Travel Choices
Affordable Travel & Lack of Waste



Travelers today are not faced with either-or choices. We can enjoy our holiday and be ecotourists simultaneously. The transformation from finding the best get-away vacation to choosing an eco-friendly destination is an easy one. And businesses in local communities are developing marketing strategies aimed at ecotourists. An internet press release (see sidebar) from Australia in October, 2007, described the Auckland City Hotel, Hobson Street, efforts to capture the ecotourist dollar.


Travel for dual purposes of learning and exploring with a sense of social consciousness evolves into a rewarding and delightful experience for the ecotourist. The intrinsic value for eco-travelers is the combination of doing something for themselves while doing something for others. It’s the traditional win-win paradigm.

A newly built Hotel for environmentally-conscious travellers has plans to capture the rapidly growing global eco-tourism market.

The Auckland City Hotel – Hobson St uses compact energy efficient fluorescent lights in all its corridors and rooms, with 50 per cent of the corridor lights activated by motion sensors. The Hotel uses the increasingly popular BioBags and bins in its kitchens – the world’s largest brand of 100 per cent biodegradable and 100 per cent compostable bags and films. Made in the US from the raw material Mater-Bi, the BioBags are completely composted after 10-45 days.

Continuing its environmentally- friendly focus, Auckland City Hotel – Hobson St offers guests recyclable amenities such as shampoo and bath gel containers, along with eco-friendly sanitation products, an environmentally-friendly card placed in the bathrooms for towel re-usage, key card power activation in rooms and educational information for guests in the form of the NZ Eco-Wise Travel Guide. The Hotel is also looking into the use of 100 per cent bio-degradable plates and packaging, along with recyclable waste bins.

Andy Tan, General Manager of Auckland City Hotel – Hobson St, says creating an environmentally-friendly Hotel made sense as there is a global trend towards environmentally conscious travelling. “Apart from making good economic sense, an eco-aware Hotel promotes eco-consciousness within the community,” he says.

“Auckland City Hotel – Hobson St offers a clean environment for travelers who want to reduce their exposure to chemicals while supporting conservation. Less electricity used by the Hotel means lower emission of gases linked to global warming such as carbon dioxide and improved air quality as a result of less energy usage.”

Known to generations of Aucklanders, the newly rebranded Auckland City Hotel – Hobson St has retained the iconic facade of its heritage building with a superior internal fit out to accommodate the discerning traveler who cares about the environment.